Pride Month may be over, but we love to celebrate Pride all year long! Summer is a perfect time to stock up on books to read. Regardless of your age or reading ability, we have some fantastic suggestions for books to celebrate Pride Month.
Picture Books
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
This book is so adorable. It is based on the story of two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo, Roy and Silo. With the help of the zookeeper, they raise a chick together. Tango, the chick, will melt everyone’s hearts.
Pink is For Boys by Robb Pearlman
This book shows that we don’t need to stick to typical gender roles, such as the classic blue is for boys and pink is for girls. This book empowers children to embrace whatever it is they love, no matter if it’s different from what everyone else is into. The colorful illustrations are sure to grab kids’ attention.
I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings
This book is about Jazz Jennings, a transgender YouTube and television star. The book tells Jazz’s story which is described simply as having a girl brain stuck in a boy body.
Middle-Grade Books
The Insiders by Mark Oshiro
Hector, a queer boy, hides in a janitor’s closet at school to get away from his bullies. It turns out that the closet is actually a portal to a magical world, much like the wardrobe in the Narnia books. Hector meets some new friends in this new world and learns that friends can turn up where you least expect them.
The Pants Project by Cat Clarke
Liv has to fight his middle school’s dress code while finding the bravery and strength to come out as transgender. Liv fights bullies while finding true friends in the midst of the effort to loosen the school’s gender-oriented dress code.
Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake
Twelve-year-old Ivy’s house is destroyed by a tornado. Afterward, drawings from her missing notebook show up in her locker. Drawings of girls holding hands. Notes appear with the drawings encouraging Ivy to reveal her true feelings and identity. Is Ivy’s crush behind these messages?
Young Adult Books
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
This book tells the true story of two California teens. Sasha is a white, agender, middle-class teen, and Richard is a black teen from a high-crime neighborhood. They share the same bus after school, where a horrible incident leaves on teen horribly scarred and the other charged with hate crimes.
Valdemar: The Last Herald-Mage Series by Mercedes Lackey
I read this series as a teenager and immediately fell in love with it. The magical land of Valdemar is filled with people who are fighting to protect their kingdom. Oh, and they have magical horses, too. The main character, Vanyel, is gay. In fact, this author is great at including a wide array of LGBTQ characters in all of her books. Just be warned that the ending of the series makes me cry every time. I recommend reading it in private!
Adult Nonfiction Books
We Are Everywhere by Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown
This book is packed with photos documenting the Queer Liberation Movement. This is a great option for those hot days when you just don’t have the energy to do much reading. Also, check out the authors’ Instagram page, @lgbt_history.
The Stonewall Reader edited by the New York Public Library
The Stonewall Uprising is considered to be a catalyst for the fight for LGBTQ rights. This book helps celebrate its fiftieth anniversary by putting together first-person accounts, diary entries, and articles about Stonewall from the library’s archives. This book showcases what was happening both leading up to and following the riots.
Adult Fiction Books
Bad Girls by Camila Sosa Villada
This story centers around a group of trans sex workers in a park in Argentina. They find shelter in their leader’s pink house. This story feels like a dark fairytale, with characters such as a headless man or a girl who transforms into a bird.
All My Mother’s Lovers by Ilana Masad
Maggie was never close to her mother after she came out. Then her mother died suddenly in a car crash. After Maggie finds five mysterious envelopes with her mother’s will, she embarks on a mission to hand-deliver them. Through this quest to deliver letters to strangers, Maggie learns more about her mother’s life.
What books to celebrate Pride would you add to our list? We’d love some suggestions for all ages! Happy reading!
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